It’s interesting how sometimes gold acts just like any other commodity, subject to the ups and downs of the currency markets. Commodities were up across the board as the euro bounced back against the dollar.

Gold traded higher early Thursday, up $9.38 to $1,770.48 and silver was up $0.30 to $34.21, with the silver/gold ratio sliding to 51.7. Silver and gold were joined higher by crude oil, platinum, palladium and copper.

Unless gold really takes off tomorrow we’re going to miss my $1,800 target and if trading stays at these volumes it’s possible we may be lower on the week. But a day is a long time in volatile markets and a price move of $30 an ounce for gold is not unheard of, so I’m not throwing in the towel just yet.

It is disappointing that we keep running into these dead spots in gold trading where gold starts behaving like a commodity instead of money. The global economy is stuck in the misty flats of indecision, a frothy zone teetering between moving forward and rolling back into recession and markets just can’t seem to get any traction.

It is what it is and what we seem to have is a new base in the $1,770 range. The hard floor is around $1,760 and the ceiling is around $1,780, where we’ve been since the middle of last month.

Equity markets in the U.S. got slammed yesterday, a follow on from the beating overseas markets took earlier in the week, so the pain isn’t limited to commodities.

As I mentioned earlier this week, slow markets with stubbornly high prices are the best times to be out making friends in the retail gold and silver trade. You can sometimes buy at or below the spot price, particularly if it’s something that’s been in the dealer inventory for some time.

Retail stores depend on sales that turn over inventory. If your local dealer bought silver when the spot price was $24 an ounce, he or she probably paid somewhere between $19 and $22 an ounce. So, when prices go up to $34 an ounce, a retail dealer can sell at $34 or $32 and still make a decent profit. Retail dealers are motivated to make friends with local stackers and that’s a relationship that can work for both of you.